Chapter 1: A New Life
Life had grown bizarre since my god was murdered. I couldn't say it had taken a turn for the worse, it had actually gotten better. Once, I lived on the streets: alone. My parents didn't want me, nor did the people in the town. My god was cruel: to her subjects, to her pet, and perhaps that's why he killed her. One night, the colossal wolf simply could take no more, and he set out to destroy his master's citadel. We all gathered in front of carnage as our god's booming voice demanded we save her. While she was a terrible deity, we had been breed to fear her. Some of the men did obey, grabbing pitchforks and axes, and rushing the beast. For a moment, he abandoned his path of destruction and turned to the warriors. Laughing heartily, he lifted a massive foot and brought it down onto five of the men. The others turned to flee. The wolf scooped them up and brought them to his muzzle: another laugh rolling like thunder out of his gullet. Nostrils distained as he smelled his quarry, before he threw one into the air and opened his huge gapping maw. He snatched the man in his teeth and began to chew blissfully. The three remaining men in the wolf's gigantic paws screamed for their lives. The beast threw each into the air, wolfing them down in a show of blood shed and entrails. Gallons of crimson dripped down to stain the surrounding gray, black and white fur, bits of bone and meat rained down onto the ground. He smiled with crimson teeth at us, and we became rooted to the ground. He chuckled, turned back to his work of destruction and began to beat on the citadel with all his might. His knuckles soon grew bloody with each hit, but slowly the stone walls of the monument began to crack. The god's booming voice demanded we fight. The wolf's ears perked at the voice and he turned to us again, the crimson tongue moving over black lips and white teeth. As if to show the punishment if we attacked, he walked forward. None moved; terrified at the titanic paws that padded over and stopped mere inches from us. The smell of death, grim and sweat rolled out of the monster's fur and struck us like a boulder. He bent down and picked up a woman with two fingers. Then, cruelly, he threw the woman up to the air and reared his head back to gobble her down. None even considered listening to the god after that.
When the citadel lay in ruins at the wolf's paws, and the booming voice had stopped pleading, the beast turned to us: a sadistic grin creeping over his face. He scooped up a human and flung her into his mouth. Panic engulfed the group, and we ran off in every direction. The wolf walk carelessly through the town, killing dozens of people with each step. For those who rushed into their homes, the beast crushed the building under foot. When the survivors rushed out into the fresh air, the beast fell to all fours. His disgusting blood red tongue skidded along the ground as he slurped up the fleeing people. Then he fell back and sat as he chewed his horrid meal: his massive tail wagging and striking surrounding houses: crushing those inside. The bits of meat that didn't tumble down the wolf's gullets, rained down onto the earth.
I was all that was left of a once buzzing population. In only an hour, the wolf creature had devoured a city of hundreds. I'd survived the massacre because I fled to the woods, rather than stay in the town. None of the people would open their doors to protect me from the beast. None of them had in lesser times: on cold nights or during rain storms. None carried about a wretch like me.
I ran with all that I could; through trees as I felt the tremors along the ground: each signaling a step of the wolf. Finally, when my heart pounded in my chest and my legs were sore and bloody from protruding twigs, the beast lifted me off the ground and brought me up to his shaggy face. He held me by my collar, his two fingers twice my size. He laughed that horrible laugh, his rancid breath blowing over me, reeking of thousands of lives. I almost gagged at the stench. "What to do with you?" he chuckled. His voice was louder, deeper, and infinitely more sinister than even my god's. It caused me more fear than she ever could. "I've had my fill of you human," he said, that crimson tongue came up and tasted me with a lick. The smell of his horrible breath overwhelmed me. I pleaded silently to die. "I could kill you," he laughed, throwing me up and down in a bizarre game of catch. Each time I flew higher and fell farther. Each time, the pain grew worse. "But no fun in that now is there? No, I'll let you live." When I fell back this time, I landed gently on the padding of his paw. He held me there, that terrible stench blowing over me each time the monster took a breath. I hesitantly sat on his massive palm. Tears swelled in my eyes. "Your parents hated you, and my god hated me. We were hated by all. But now that's changed. I was a pet, that's what you'll be. You'll be my pet."
I looked up at his massive head through the swelling tears and he wasn't grinning with that evil grin anymore.
That's how my new life started.